Dotcom Gets Go-Ahead to Sue New Zealand Spy Agency

By Joe Schneider -
Dec 5, 2012

Kim Dotcom, accused of the biggest
U.S. copyright infringement as founder of file-sharing website
Megaupload.com, won permission from a judge to sue New Zealand’s
spy agency for intercepting his communications.

New Zealand High Court Justice Helen Winkelmann yesterday
granted a request to add the Government Communications Security
Bureau to Dotcom’s lawsuit against the country’s Attorney
General over a January raid on his Auckland mansion.

“I have no doubt that the most convenient and expeditious
way of enabling the court to determine all matters in dispute is
to join the GCSB in the proceedings,” Winkelmann wrote in the
16-page ruling posted on the courts’ website today.

Dotcom, 38, was indicted in what U.S. prosecutors dubbed a
“Mega Conspiracy,” accusing his website of generating more
than $175 million in criminal proceeds from the exchange of
pirated film, music, book and software files. He faces as long
as 20 years in prison for each of the racketeering and money-
laundering charges in the indictment, with the U.S. seeking his
extradition for a trial in Virginia.

The judge also ordered the spy agency to turn over to
Dotcom’s lawyers documents, including any information-sharing
agreements GCSB had with New Zealand police or U.S. authorities.

‘Democracy Works’

“Today’s judgment shows the New Zealand democracy works
and the GCBS spy agency is not above the law,” Ira Rothken,
Dotcom’s U.S.-based lawyer, said in an e-mail.

New Zealand’s attorney general’s office objected to
including GCSB as a defendant, saying it would distract from the
core issue in dispute, according to the judgment.

John Pike, a lawyer representing the attorney general, also
objected to disclosure of information sharing with the U.S.,
saying it would compromise New Zealand’s national security
interests and would reveal sharing protocols with allies,
according to the judgment.

New Zealand police raided Dotcom’s home using two
helicopters and 27 officers, some armed with assault rifles and
gas canisters. Police seized mobile phones, hard drives,
computers and 18 luxury vehicles, including a 1959 pink
Cadillac. Dotcom spent four weeks in jail before winning his
release on bail.

Invalid Warrants

Winkelmann ruled on June 28 that warrants police used to
search Dotcom’s home were overly broad and invalid.

During an August hearing into whether the search itself was
unreasonable and employed disproportionate force, the GCSB
conceded it unlawfully intercepted Dotcom’s communications
before the raid, Winkelmann wrote in yesterday’s ruling.

“At least some of the material gathered by GCSB through
the interceptions will be the subject of consideration in the
proceeding in one form or another,” Winkelmann said. “There is
a risk that the addition of the GCSB to this proceeding will
delay the extradition proceeding, but in reality I think that is
not a likely outcome.”

Dotcom’s extradition hearing is currently scheduled for
March.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister John Key ordered an inquiry
into GCSB’s illegal surveillance in September.

The GCSB contributes to the security of New Zealand by
providing foreign intelligence to the government and protecting
its electronic information resources, according to a statement
on its website.

The case is Between Kim Dotcom and Attorney General.
CIV2012-404-001928. High Court of New Zealand (Auckland).